


Sleep and Stuffed Animals

by TheDarkChocolateLord



Series: Keeptober 2020 [11]
Category: Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger
Genre: Book 7: Flashback, Canon Compliant, Elwin and Livvy are besties change my mind, Fluff, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:48:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27331462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDarkChocolateLord/pseuds/TheDarkChocolateLord
Summary: Elwin and Livvy stay up late making medicine for Sophie and Fitz.Written for Keeptober 2020 for the prompt 'Friendship'.
Relationships: Livvy Sonden & Elwin
Series: Keeptober 2020 [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1973125
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	Sleep and Stuffed Animals

_ 9:00 PM. _

"I didn't ask you to bring coffee," Elwin noted, staring at the mass of vials and canisters and boxes covering the lab table. Most of them were ingredients and supplies, but there  _ was  _ a travel mug and a box of instant coffee off to the left.

Livvy rolled her eyes. "We're pulling an all-nighter. How else are we supposed to survive?"

"By napping before and after, and drinking caffeinated tea if necessary," Elwin explained.

"How the  _ heck _ did you survive your Level Six finals?" Livvy had basically lived off of coffee and Prattles (and occasional meals when her parents made her) for a solid week.

"Trust me, this got me through the Elite Levels," Elwin assured her.

"You took the Elite Levels?" Livvy wondered. It made sense; Elwin had a special ability, worked at Foxfire (though nobody ever called him Sir Elwin) and he was clearly smart enough to get in. She just hadn't thought of it before.

"Yeah, did you?"

"I'm Talentless," she shrugged. "One of the reasons I joined the Black Swan."

Elwin scrunched up his brow in concentration, and Livvy was pretty sure the next question was going to be the one she got from everyone from her relatives to the stuffy nobles.

_ How did you get matched with Quinlin?  _

"Quinlin manifested after he got his first match list," she explained, trying to stop the forthcoming awkwardness.

"Actually, I was going to ask you whether we should start on the selkie skin medicine or the topical stuff first."

Definitely not what Livvy had been expecting. "Probably the selkie skin, since it's got that whole drying process. The topical stuff is just extensive mixing and simmering."

"Good point. I'll get the ingredients set up."

"I'll fire up the burners." Livvy took a lighter out of her bag.

_ 11:00 PM. _

"Fitz and Sophie are doing fine," Elwin said as he re-entered the room.

Livvy grinned. "I've been meaning to ask this; was Fitz's stuffed animal your doing?"

"It was."

"Sir Elwin, leader of the fuzzy and protector of the kids, bestowing stuffed animals to all of those who can't sleep." She struck a pose.

"You make me sound like I'm some kind of hero," Elwin noted.

"Being a hero isn't about killing the bad guys. It's about doing what you can to fight for what's right. And that's what you're doing. That's all any of us are doing, really." She glanced back at the main room, where Fitz had an arm wrapped around Mr. Snuggles as he telepathically communicated with Sophie. 

He looked too young to be fighting this war.

They  _ all  _ looked too young to be fighting this war.

"Lady Livvy, bringer of the candy, healer of the wounded, whose words are infused with wisdom." Elwin dipped his head to her.

Livvy laughed. "Speaking of 'bringer of the candy', I brought Prattles. Want some?" 

"Sure."

_ 1:00 AM. _

"This stuff smells so bad, I can't believe Sophie hasn't woken up yet," Elwin muttered as they stirred in the last layer of feces.

Livvy shrugged. "It's pretty hard to wake someone up by smell alone."

"And you know this because?"

"In theory, because of a paper I read about the strength of various sensory inputs. In practice, because when I was twelve my brother and I were in the middle of a prank war, and I released gulon gas in his room, and he didn't wake up until his pet cockatrice smelt it and started screaming bloody murder."

"I was an only child, and I always wished I had a sibling," Elwin reminisced. "Now you're making me change my mind." He yawned.

"Get some sleep," Livvy told him. She took a step closer; there were huge purple circles under his eyes.

"I can help you finish up the medicine."

"It's just three elixirs, and we saved the simplest ones for last," Livvy reminded him. "And I took a nap before I came here. How much have  _ you  _ slept in the past few days?"

Silence.

"Elwin, you can't go around telling Sophie how important sleep is and then not do any of it yourself."

"I guess you're right," Elwin muttered. He looked at the high shelf across the room, where Livvy had put Stinky the Stegosaurus to keep him out of harm's way while they brewed the medicine. "I hate being short."

"Want me to reach him for you?" Livvy stretched up onto her tiptoes, grabbed Stinky, and handed him to Elwin. "Here."

"Thanks."

"No problem. Now get some sleep. You need it."

  
  



End file.
